With the Spurs sans Tony Parker taking on the LeBron-less Cleveland Cavaliers tonight in Cleveland, who better than to ask about the Cavs then our fellow Bloguin Brother, Brendan Bowers, of Stepien Rules. One of the best sites on the net for all thing Cavs.

1. Cavs want LeBron James to rest tonight against the Spurs. Should he be resting more than just a few games heading into the post season or do the Cavs need him out there asap?

I think a few games rest for LeBron is not necessarily ‘needed’ but I have no problem with it, and think it could prove beneficial in the long-run. One of the Cavaliers strength is there overall team depth from 1-12, and looking at the roster that way there’s no deeper team than the Cavaliers. When they get into the playoffs, that rotation will shrink down from 10-11 to 7 or 8, and while they might not be the deepest team in the NBA from 1-7, they are from 1-12, and there’s no time like the present – regular season – to capitalize on that strength and save some miles on LBJ’s tires, because come playoff time, they won’t have that luxury.

2. This isn’t the same Cavs team nor the same James the Spurs swept in the 2007 NBA Finals. How has this franchise and James grown since?

Well James is just a better overall player both physically and mentally. I think he learned from the first go round with the Spurs, and where he made his most dramatic personal development in the time since is mentally. And as far as being a better player, I’d argue that he’s even markedly better than he was last year when he won the MVP. How the teams different is simply personnel. Sans LeBron, that team had no business being in the NBA Finals and your Spurs made them acutely aware of that in four short match-ups. But this Cavs team doesn’t start a backcourt that started Larry Hughes and Sasha Pavlovic, and now has about 8 guys on this team that would have been improvements in the starting lineup over those two guys, as well as Gooden and Z. And that’s not even talking about a bench that gave big minutes to guys like Donyell Marshall and Damon Jones.

3. What should Spurs fans expect tonight from the Cavs taking on a Spurs team without Tony Parker?

The Cavs PG’s will look a ton better defensively than they would’ve trying to chase Parker all over the place. If there’s a weakness on this Cavs team its defensively from that position, and a guy like Parker could line up to have a field day against him. With Parker out though, the Spurs will need to find another area to attack other than the Cavaliers weakest link defensively. So it should be better with him out…for us, not you. Hope he can make it back for the Playoffs though.